The Book Nook

So it's been awhile (ok, forever) since I've done one of these posts.  I will say I've been staying on track with my reading and reading at least one book per month.  I've actually read 4 since I last posted and finally finished Omnivore's Dilemma which I started reading last year.

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan was an excellent read, eye-opening and somewhat frightening.  By far the most shocking part about this book are the sections on the factory farms or CAFO's (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation).  If you read Food Rules then you have heard a bit about CAFO's but this book went into great detail and it's pretty disturbing.  I had already started changing the types of food I bought and how I ate but after that I really got serious and have since made some pretty big changes which I'll post about later.  It was a neat book because it went full circle.  He started with a drive thru meal from McDonalds which they ate in their car, followed that food chain, went to a more sustainably raised meal, followed that food chain, and then finally ended with a meal in which he hunted and gathered all ingredients used.  In other words he started with the longest food chain and ended with the shortest.  I would strongly encourage everyone to read this but will warn that it's not for the faint of heart.

Next we have Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.  I saw this movie about a year ago and liked the first half of it but thought the ending (the original one) was stupid.  It didn't make sense to me and it turned me off from the rest of the movie.  That surprised me because I've read other Nicholas Sparks novels and loved them even though I don't tend to go for the romances.  I also loved both The Notebook and A Walk to Remember movies so this one disappointed me.  My friends and I decided to read the book to see if it was any better.  I am happy to say it was!  It turns out they cut out a lot from the movie, they usually do, and some of it were major parts that added to making sense of the situation.  Obviously fun reading but I just had to find out if the book was good and it was.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson was after that.  This was also a book I have been wanting to read for quite sometime.  I had heard it was a great book and it definitely did not disappoint.  It was fabulous!  It is one of those books that keeps you in suspense and it kept me as wrapped up in the book as I tend to get with a movie.  Every so often it had something in it to add excitement and it just kept you guessing as to what was going to happen next.  The entire time you are trying to solve the puzzle!  I will admit that my jaw dropped a few times by some of the events, it is that well written.  I know he wrote 3 books but it turns out that they are a series so you would want to start with this one if you want to read them.  I also just finished the second one The Girl Who Played With Fire and it was just as good.  I am very much looking forward to reading the final book in the series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, but they were out of copies at the library.  Of course I will be sad when I've read them all and since he is no longer living I can't look forward to any more coming out!

The last one was Decision Points by George W. Bush.  I have found that I really enjoy reading biographies.  Actually the reason I originally gained interest in reading this was because I saw an Oprah episode (it was a re-run) where she was discussing this book with former President Bush shortly after it's release.  He went on to discuss certain points of contention during his presidency and cleared up some thoughts about them.  Mainly the Katrina response, 9/11 and the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.  I remember that he was highly criticized about his Katrina response and people were very angry that he didn't act sooner and they blamed the government for not doing enough fast enough.  What I thought was very interesting and did not know was the fact that the mayor of LA had to ask the President and federal government for help.  They couldn't just go in even though Bush realized that they desperately needed help.  It took the mayor of LA 4 days to finally decided to ask for help and that was with great pressure from President Bush and staff.  This was just one of the many points he went on to explain.  It's always interesting to hear what they were thinking and the reasoning behind people's decisions.  That is exactly what was done with this book and it helps to put some pieces of the puzzle into place.  I am not a political person at all and am not affiliated with any particular party.  I would be just as likely to pick up Barack Obama's book to read as I would this one.  I will say after reading this book that he has my respect and I believe he dealt with some very difficult issues and handled them the best way he could under the circumstances. 

Well that is it for the books that I've read.  I have just started reading Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.  I have heard this book mentioned a lot and remember hearing it was a best seller but I don't know too much else about what it's actually about.  It's hard to browse for books with an almost 2 year old who hates to be in a stroller and feigns potty every 10 minutes!  Basically I pick up the first one that looks good.  I really should start a wish list of sorts, a running list of all the books I hear about that I'd like to read.  Then I could just place it on hold and pick them up in all of 5 minutes.  That would also help to solve the book amnesia I seem to have!